Just One Question
by psychout89
Summary: A one shot convo between Shawn and Henry.


_here's a one shot thingy. i hope you like it :D_

**disclaimer: i don't own psych even though i really wish i did...**

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"I just have one question… Why'd you do it, Kid?" Henry whispered to his son. The two Spencer men were sitting on Henry's porch, watching the sun set, while drinking a couple beers.

It took a moment, but Shawn finally answered. "Because, Dad, I had no other choice."

"Of course you had another choice, Shawn!" Henry yelled frustratingly. "You could have…"

"I could have what, Dad? I could have just sat there and watched as the bullet flew through the air and into the unsuspecting back of my best friend? I could have tried to yell for him to get down, even though I knew the words would just get caught in the back of my throat? Or maybe, I could have really been psychic and seen the second and third shooters who were waiting for the opportunity to fire into the crowd, using the fact that I was saving my best friend's life as a distraction," Shawn almost yelled.

"Shawn… that's not what I meant," Henry shot back dejectedly. "You couldn't have seen it coming. It was lucky enough that you saw the first guy."

"Dad, we both know, anything I notice isn't by luck."

A silence had settled between them. This was different than most of their silences though. This was comfortable, relaxed. There wasn't any tension between them at the moment.

As they gazed into the slowly setting sun Henry asked, "How do you think Carlton, is making out?"

"Since when are you and Lassie on a first name basis?" Shawn asked. Then, more solemnly, he said, "I'm not sure, Dad. They said the bullet did some serious damage. It fractured some bone and I think they said it may have punctured a major artery or something."

"And that blond detective? Carlton's partner, what's her name again?"

"Jules? Nothing serious, the shot only grazed her arm. She was really lucky considering.… I hope they caught the bastards that did this."

"Of course they caught them, Shawn. They got them as they were trying to escape. Stupid bastards figured they could open fire into a crowd of mostly police and get away. One of them ended up dead; he was shot when he tried to use the butt of his gun to knock a couple of officers to the ground so he could escape."

"You know, for such a well thought out crime, they had a pretty crappy escape plan."

"Yeah well, now they'll rot in prison for the rest of their miserable lives… if they're so lucky."

After a few more moments of silence Shawn spoke again. "Dad?" he said tentatively.

"Yeah Kid?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For letting you down."

"Oh, kid. You didn't let me down. No matter how much I wanted you to be a cop, I finally came to terms with the fact that that just wasn't gonna happen, that you were happy doing your own thing… And Shawn?"

"Yeah Dad?"

"I want you to know that I'm proud of you, proud of everything you've done. And I just wanted to say I love you, Kiddo."

"I love you too, Dad."

The two fell into a comfortable silence once again. As the sun was almost completely set, Shawn turned toward his father and said, "Dad, can you do me a favor?"

Looking over to his son Henry asked, "Sure Kid, what is it?"

"Can you wake up? For me please?"

"I can't, Shawn. Not until I know you'll be alright."

"But Dad… you're bleeding."

Henry looked down at his shirt for the first time and realized a steady red stain growing on the front of it.

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Henry had been at the crime scene with his son and Gus when the cops arrived. The three shooters were keeping hostages and it was Shawn who had been able to discern where exactly the shooters were hiding out, leading the police to the scene.

It was Shawn who saw that the first gunman was armed. And it was Shawn who threw his best friend out of the way of a speeding bullet without managing to get shot himself. As the first marksman reloaded, his two buddies took the opportunity to also shoot into the crowd of police. One hit Lassiter in the upper right shoulder. The other just barely missed Juliet but grazed her left forearm. The last shot came from the original shooter. Aiming in the general direction as he had before, he pulled the trigger.

Henry had just moved unknowingly in between the bullet and his son, who was making sure Gus, was alright. As the shot tore through him, all he was able to do was to think about his son. When he finally registered the pain; he looked down at the blood seeping through his favorite Hawaiian shirt. As Henry fell to the ground and his consciousness was slipping away, he brought his hand to his wound to make sure it was real.

The last thing he remembered before slipping into the darkness, that was his unconscious, was touching the place where the bullet had exited, just to make sure it had really happened. After lifting his hand and feeling the blood on it, he finally let the darkness take him.

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Hours later, Shawn sat next to the hospital bed that his father currently occupied, watching the sluggish movements of his chest rise and fall while clutching his hand. Trying desperately to hold back tears, but failing miserably, Shawn kept whispering to his father to "wake up, Dad, please wake up."

A sudden movement at the door startled Shawn from his mantra. Gus had come in to see how his best friend was holding up. He also came to tell Shawn that Lassie had finally gotten out of a successful surgery and that the doctors were very confident that he was going to recover quickly.

Shawn nodded at this new development but didn't take his eyes off of his father the entire time Gus had been talking. He desperately wanted, no he needed his dad to wake up. He needed to tell him all the things he was sorry for, wanted to apologize for the fight they had been having before the gunshots. He just didn't want the last things he and his father said to each other to have been another argument.

Gus placed his hand on Shawn' shoulder for encouragement and left the room knowing that that was exactly what his best friend had needed.

As soon as Gus had left the room, Shawn unwittingly restarted his chant.

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It was three and a half days later, and the only change in Henry's condition was for the worse after the first day. After what seemed like forever, Henry awoke, taking his time opening his eyes, which for some reason unknown to him felt like they had hundred pound weights tied to them. When he finally was able to open them, and as soon as he was able to see clearly, Henry took in his surroundings. Once he gathered that he was indeed in a hospital, he looked down to his left hand to see what had been attached to it, making him unable to move it. What he saw was a hand. Following along the arm it was attached to, he noticed his sleeping, bedraggled son. Allowing a smile to escape his lips, he attempted to maneuver himself into a slightly more comfortable position without waking his son.

As soon as he started moving, was aware that his son had woken up. Noticing that Shawn looked a little confused, Henry cleared his throat. Shawn's eyes rested on his and he knew immediately that his son hadn't left his side for as long as he'd been there, however long that may have been.

Shawn had been in the middle of one of his few, sparse naps still grasping Henry's hand, when he heard movement in the room. Opening his weary, bloodshot eyes, he quickly glanced around the cramped hospital room before allowing them to rest on his father's face.

After what seemed like ages of just looking at each other, Henry cleared his throat once more and whispered, "Why'd you do it, Kid?"

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**A/N: well there it is. i personally think that i did really well on this but it's your opinions that i want to hear, so please review!**


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